Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "家" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 家 in Japanese?

家 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /i.e/. It means “house / home.” i-e, two separate vowel beats and no consonant at all — never the single sound "yay."

i-e, two separate vowel beats and no consonant at all — never the single sound "yay."

家 /i.e/

Two slots made entirely of vowels — the hardest configuration for English speakers, whose instinct is to bind adjacent vowels into a single syllable. Pulse them apart deliberately until the two-count is stable, then let the join smooth over without losing the length.

Listen: 家

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Sound it out

i Begin on a short, tense i, with no glottal catch and no y-glide before it.

e A short front e as a second, distinct beat. The mouth opens slightly from the i position, but the e must be held long enough to register as its own vowel rather than as a transition.

Hear it in a sentence

私の家は駅の近くです。

Watashi no ie wa eki no chikaku desu.

My house is near the station.

Listen: 私の家は駅の近くです。

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私の家は駅の近くです has 駅 (e-ki) shortly after, which begins on the same e that 家 ends on. Saying the phrase 家は駅 you get e-wa-e in quick succession — three beats with two identical vowels a beat apart, and neither may be weakened.

Where English speakers slip

"yay" or "ee-yeh" is what emerges: either the two vowels fused into an English diphthong, or a y-glide inserted between them because English refuses to let vowels touch. Neither belongs. Say i, then e, cleanly, with nothing in between and both at full length.